“Do you have eyes on this?” Bradley Cooper scopes out the last crop of films from 2014 year that you haven’t had a chance to see yet.
Critics nationwide came out with their ‘Best of 2014’ lists all last month. Even friends of the Project, Anderson Le with HIFF and Myong Choi of Frolic, posted their favorite films of 2014. As such is life in Hawaii, we’re not done with 2014 movies just yet. While the big studio films have all come out, there are still a number of smaller, independent features that have yet to make their way onto Hawaii screens.
And this is the reason why I’m not yet ready to close the book on 2014. We’ve still got so much more movies to watch! I mean really, what do we have to look forward to in January? Liam Neeson’s very particular set of skills for a third time (Taken 3)? Hell, even Hollywood doesn’t come out with their ‘Best of’ list for another seven weeks (the Oscars are on February 22). So, read up on what’s still coming down the pike for 2014 and try to check some of these films out in the cold dark winter for the multiplex that is the month of January.
Selma
With Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day right around the corner, it’s no coincidence that the Dr King biopic, Selma expands nationwide this week after it’s limited release in select cities on December 25th. Selma is a chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. David Oyelowo (Interstellar, Jack Reacher) is receiving a ton of accolades for his performance as Dr. King and is being heavily talked about as an Oscar nominee. Same goes for director Ava DuVernay who is garnering acclaim for craftsmanship of an amazing film that’s getting Best Picture buzz.
Website // Trailer
Release in Hawaii: Friday, January 9th
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Inherent Vice
If high brow art house is for you, then Inherent Vice is right up your alley. Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon, Vice is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, The Master). I’m not really that much of a fan of PT Anderson, but critics seem to eat up his films every time they come out. Boogie Nights is the film I enjoy most from him, but his last film The Master definitely left me scratching my head. A lot of early reviews of Vice I’ve read say the film is very well shot and very well put together, but a bit confusing if you haven’t read the book. And then there’s Joaquin Phoenix. The usually stalwart actor’s performance in Vice hasn’t generated any talk for Oscar.
Website // Trailer
Release in Hawaii: Friday, January 9th
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A Most Violent Year
I first heard about A Most Violent Year near the beginning of the festival season back in September. Year is the third feature film from director J.C. Chandor, whose first film Margin Call was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and whose second feature All is Lost garnered a lot of critical acclaim, most notably for Robert Redford’s solo (and for the most part speechless) performance in the film. With a lot of clout generated from his first two films, I’m definitely interested to see what Chandor has cooked up for his third go around. In Year, Chandor is working with acting power houses Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Drive) and Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty) and focuses on a couple in 1981 New York City who try to protect their business and family during the most dangerous year in the city’s history.
Website // Trailer
Expands Nationwide: Friday, January 30th
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Cake
I literally knew nothing about Cake until it started popping up on Top 10 lists and projected Oscar contenders in early December. The reason . . . a lot of critics say that Jennifer Aniston’s performance in the film is Oscar worthy. The way her performance is being described is enough for me to want to check out the film. Luckily, the film also stars Anna Kendrick, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macey, and Sam Worthington–a pretty solid cast to round out a small independent drama and definitely not a bad option to check out late in the month.
Website // Trailer
Expands Nationwide: Friday, January 23rd
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American Sniper
And finally, the movie everyone was asking me about during Christmas . . . American Sniper. A lot of people are excited for this film and if you’ve seen the first trailer for the film, then you already know how tense of a film this will be. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and check it out. You’ll definitely get sucked in by the trailer alone. Not only does the film look great, but Bradley Cooper is generating some buzz for his performance in the film and Clint Eastwood is also getting some attention for his direction. Thankfully, we won’t have too much longer to wait.
Website // Trailer
Expands Nationwide: Friday, January 16th
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January isn’t just a cold dark time in winter, it’s also a cold dark time in the multiplexes as Hollywood waits for the stars to align to release their next big tentpole. With that in mind it’s also the perfect time to catch up on these films from 2014 that have yet to be released as well as other great films from last year that you still like to catch up with. For myself, you can add Only Lovers Left Alive, Nightcrawler, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Laggies, and Beyond the Lights as films from 2014 that I still need to catch up with.
2014 over with? Hardly. Preparation for your Oscar ballot starts now!
What films from last year do you still have to catch up with?
The Red Band Project 
Thanks for the shout out! Out of those you listed, I’m most looking forward to Inherent Vice and American Sniper. I’m a fan of PTA and there hasn’t been a film of his that I haven’t enjoyed, the favorite being Magnolia. I love that film. I’d be more excited about American Sniper if it wasn’t directed by Eastwood as his last couple of films bored the hell out of me but we’ll see.
Saw the trailer for Cake and didn’t get the Oscar buzz for Aniston based on the trailer. But will probably check it out if she indeed gets nominated although it hasn’t been the strongest year for leading female performances.
Yeah, for Cake you can’t get a real good feel of her performance, but I’ve read and heard a lot of good things from a majority of the critics I follow. We’ll see, if critical buzz translates to a nomination.
For PTA, yeah, I’m just not a fan. Ordinarily I’d give Inherent Vice a shot, but I haven’t heard too good things–which is the total opposite of what I heard about The Master so maybe I should check it out.
In any case, I think these will all be solid choices if we get all of them this month. Like I said, I think the highest profile thing to come out this month is Taken 3 and there’s also Blackhat by Michael Mann (which I’m interested in), the Wedding Ringer starring Kevin Hart, and Mordtecai with Johnny Depp. With these as the highlights, it’s definitely a month where you can catch up with stuff you missed.